Lorentson Painting & Home Upgrades

We had popcorn ceilings removed by an abatement company just before moving into our house. That left us living in a house with drywall ceilings, horribly mismatched textures on the walls. We also has an unmovable timeframe when my wife and kids would be out of the house to fix the ceilings and walls.
We told Mark that we wanted flat ceilings and walls, even though we’d heard it was hard to flatten a popcorn ceiling and make it look good. Mark was very clear before starting about what to expect, he helped guide us about paint sheens, and different options we had. He was thorough in his estimate. He agreed to the timeframe and was extremely flexible in how he worked, finding a way for me to live in the house while it was being renovated (saving me on a rather expensive hotel stay).
After he finished, I managed to make a few marks on the walls while putting away items. Mark fixed them up and as a bonus gave me some great tips on how to fix up marks.
We’re delighted with his work and would hire him again without hesitation.

I had Mark paint the exterior, lacquer the kitchen cabinets, replace and paint three sides of a wooden shed, and patch a hole in the garage wall (about 3 square feet of stucco) of a rental property in Walnut Creek. While the work wasn’t perfect, I think it would be challenging to find someone as thorough.
I went with Mark based on: 1) great Unilocal reviews, 2) a strong recommendation from another painter who also had great Unilocal reviews, 3) he actually looked at all of the surfaces to be painted instead of just estimating square footage, 4) I liked the fact that his preferred paint is Kelly Moore… not the fanciest or trendiest paint out there, but a good product line from a company based in the Bay Area with retail stores nearby, 5) he’s half the crew, while sales people from larger companies will promise the moon but fail to communicate with the crew, 6) his quote was toward the medium-​low end of the spectrum.
Here are some of my opinions and basis for my rating: 1) he pays pretty good attention to detail, 2) he has an excellent work ethic, 3) he is a mediocre salesperson, 4) I was pleased to see he removed the light fixtures, mailbox, and brass numbers from the exterior walls instead of painting around them, 5) my stucco went below the soil line, and he dug the soil back to paint below the soil line (I’ve seen lazy painters paint to the soil line then cover up the line with dirt) 6) he did everything he promised, and he did it in a timely manner, 7) my tenants and next door neighbors like his work, 8) it takes a few years for the quality of a paint project to prove itself, but I’m pretty confident he got it mostly right.

Excellent service and top-​quality work.
I purchased a home that needed quite a bit of work, so our budget and timeframe were tight. I called Mark for a quote on some drywall and texturing installation and repairs. When I asked about ways to keep the cost down, Mark was very open with ideas, including hourly rates and options for me to do some of the work. I took his suggestions, and he started the job right away. He was always conscious of our budget and timeline, and he worked hard to earn our approval. His work looks great — the textures blend in seamlessly. You would never know where the old work ends and the new work begins!
Mark was very professional and thorough, and he’s a nice local guy, too. Overall, a great value for some great work!

Mark provided excellent service. His estimate for removing my popcorn ceilings was competitive with a large company specializing in that service. He was always on-​time and polite. My ceilings look great. My belongings were protected (as requested, I removed items that were fragile or on top shelves) and I think he left my carpets cleaner than when he started. I would definitely recommend Lorentson for popcorn ceiling removal.

So we just got a letter today from Mark at Lorentson wanting to clarify some items on my review. I definitely commend him on being interested in customer service.
He mentioned that there is no way to know what awaits under the popcorn ceiling once they are removed so it is difficult to know if the finish will be textured or smooth. Ok, would have been nice to know in advance. He states the quality of baseboards we had done for less than his quoted price are «well below» what he would have done and therefore was cheaper. Ok, perhaps. However, they are fine for what we need them for. To us they look great and we are cerainly not showing our home in architectural digest in the near future. He points out they worked long hours as well as on weekends in order to «meet our move-​in time.» Yes, this is true however it was not only to meet our move in time but to finish the project by his own estimated completion date. Sorry, no extra credit for working overtime if you have to meet your own self appointed deadline. He stated in his letter that he saved us money by putting in new lighting fixtures for us allowing us to forego hiring an electrician. True– however, he said he would have to take down the old lighting fixtures anyway and asked if we wanted to get new ones to replace the old ones and he would just put in the new ones. I thought it was a good idea so bought new fixtures. It was his idea, not mine so I guess he gets points for that but we would have done it down the road ourselves if he had not offered.
I am glad he is interested in customer service and took the time to compose a letter to us. However, I cannot take down this review. I rely heavily on Unilocal reviews when I am choosing vendors and if everyone removed borderline/​negative reviews we would not get honest input as consumers. Additionally, I hope reading this will help someone in the future when hiring a painter to know a little more about what questions to ask prior to signing a contract. Unfortunately I went in very uninformed (nobody to blame but myself) and have learned a lot during this process.

Mark was very good for us, he was able to do some interior molding installation and spray finish it as well.
The final product looks excellent. Very clean, and professional, did all the work himself on consecutive days as promised.
We highly recommend Mark for any painting job!